Cored

Chapter 25: Willow

When she stepped out of the fireplace in Diagon Alley, brushing the ash from her shoulders, she was still buzzing with whatever was in the air at the Burrow. Molly had sent her not only with freshly laundered clothes, but a loaf of bread, a sack of cookies, and some sort of roast. Katherine walked into the store and nodded at Ron, who was trying to deal with a young woman haggling for a Pygmy Puff, before she knocked on George's office door.

"I'm back," she said, sticking her head in.

"Did you have fun?" George said. Then he sniffed the air, "Mum sent you back with food, didn't she?"

Katherine laughed and opened the bag, pulling out a cookie for him. "She's the best," he said, practically eating it in one bite. "Angelina has it in her head that fruit is a dessert. What I get for marrying a healer." He looked at is watch and started shuffling the papers into stacks. "Speaking of, I better get back for dinner. Here, though, this came for you."

Katherine took a letter from his outstretched hand and read it. "It's McGonagall," she said. "Says something came up, wants to reschedule our lesson to 9 tonight."

"You'll have to tell me all about it in the morning." George said with a smile.

Back in the apartment, Katherine started unloading her bag. By the time she had all of the clothes put away in neat stacks, she was almost late to meet Vander. She ran back down the stairs and out the door before Ron could even ask where she was going.

Bursting through the door, she found Vander standing at the counter with a quill in his hand, pulling at his ear and leaving an ink spot on his cheek in the process. He looked up at her and chuckled.

"Someone is in a hurry."

"I have been waiting for this moment!" she said, a bit winded. When he just stared at her, she added, "I finally get to know what 'L' is for!"

"You have blown this way out of proportion," Vander laughed and shook his head. "Now I think you're going to be disappointed." He walked toward the back and reemerged with the sack, presumably with the ring inside. "But, I do think I found some answers today."

She took the sack from him and put it carefully in sewn in pouch at the top of her bag. "What kinds of answers?"

"How about I tell you over dinner?" he said. "I'm starving."

Katherine raised her eyebrow at him. "Real craving for the Leaky Cauldron?"

"No," he said. "Don't get me wrong, it'll always be my favorite place for a pint. But I thought we could go over to the muggle side."

"I've been dreaming about Thai food," Katherine admitted.

"Thai it is."

She shook her head. "Don't think you can distract me with curry, Vander. You have to hold up your end of the bargain."

"After dinner," he said, pulling on his coat. "let me have my dignity for that much longer."

Katherine rolled her eyes at the dramatics but followed him out the door without asking again.

Forty-five minutes later, they sat in a small hole in the wall restaurant. Katherine was happily drinking a creamy orange Thai tea, which was sweet and cold and perfect for calming her tongue from the very spicy meal.

"I definitely picked the wrong spice level," she said, her eyes watering. "But it is too good to not eat."

Vander had settled on a noodle dish, which he was now spinning on his spoon. "I think I could have gone up one. But you're right, it's delicious. And it's my turn."